


A Summer's Evening

by Solanaceae



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Tolkien Femslash Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:18:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7586665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solanaceae/pseuds/Solanaceae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reine is unhappy in her arranged engagement. A strange dwarf visits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Summer's Evening

**Author's Note:**

> TFW Bingo: Card and Prompt: Cliche: B7: Candlelight, Pairings: B7: human/dwarf, I16: textual ghosts, Romance Tropes: G33: Arranged Marriage, Story Elements: B7: sword and shield

The knock on the hostel door came at evening on a cool summer day. The dwarf standing in the doorway was dark skinned, with a long chestnut beard and braids in her hair. Reine could see that her dress was richly embroidered, and from some heavy cloth she could not quite identify.

“I am Dís, and I am traveling from the Blue Mountains. Might I stay the night?”

Reine’s mother looked down at Dís, hands on her ample hips and brow furrowed, seeming to be weighing the benefits of a dwarf’s gold with the supposed ill luck that accompanied them. Finally, Riene saw the desire for profit winning over as her mother said, “If you can pay, then you may stay.”

//

That evening, Reine brought Dís her dinner on a tray. She climbed the creaking stairs to the third floor, where her mother had put their only guest, as though trying to keep any misfortune as far away from them as possible. When she knocked on the door, she heard the sound of metal clinking against wood before Dís called, “Enter.”

Reine pushed the door open with her foot. Dís stood by the desk, a polishing cloth in one hand and a sword lying on the worn wood. The edge was keen and the hilt wrapped in gold wire. Leaning against the wall was a shield that Reine had noticed slung across her back earlier.

Dís followed her gaze to the weapon and smiled. “This is my faithful friend.” Her voice was warm and smooth, like honey ale. “Would you like to hold it?”

Reine nodded, setting the tray down. Dís gestured for her to pick up the sword. It fit snugly in her hands, clearly made for one of smaller stature, but the balance as she swung it experimentally was impeccable.

“You know your way around a blade,” Dís noted.

She flushed, hastily handing back the sword. “I have - always been interested, but my mother forbids me from learning. I sneak down to the smithy sometimes to look at ther blades there.”

“And try them out, I do not doubt.” There was a twinkle of amusement in Dís’ eyes. “Come. Sit with me.”

Reine perched on the edge of the bed, uncertain. She watched as Dís poured herself a drink from the pitcher of beer her mother had sent up. The dwarf’s hands were wide and strong, calloused with years of toil.

“Tell me about yourself,” Dís encouraged.

“My mother has raised me on her own since I was very young. I help house guests and cook food here.”

“Thrilling, no doubt.” Dís sniffed at her beer, made a face. “And you sneak away to look at swords when your mother isn't looking. What else do you do in your spare time? Don't tell me there's a man you have your eye on.”

Reine stiffened, a pang going through her heart. “I--” Her voice died in her throat. As if sensing something was wrong, Dís looked up at her, eyes narrowed.

“What is it?”

“There is a man,” she mumbled, looking down at her hands in her lap. She realized her fingers were twisted in the fabric of her dress and forced herself to relax them. “But I do not wish to marry him.”

“Then why think any more of him? Leave him.”

“I cannot - my mother and his parents - there is an arrangement.”

“Ah.” Dís looked faintly disgusted. The light from the candle on the desk flickered across her face, casting shadows. “A human tradition that, quite frankly, makes little sense to me.”

“Do dwarves marry whoever they wish?”

“Many of my kin choose not to marry,” Dís replied. “But those who do - yes. We are free to do what we please with our lives.”

Reine considered this for a moment, then said, “I would that I lived with your kin, then.”

Dís reached for her hand, squeezed it. Reine felt the warmth of the dwarf’s skin against hers, comforting. Something about it sparked a yearning in her heart.

“You would be welcome in our halls, Reine.”


End file.
